A Defense of Hate
The left wing has lots of posters which I see all over Northern California which state, We Are Against Hate (among other professions of a faith in the new & stupid religion of Wokeness). This attack on hate is both infantile and unserious.
Fact 1: Hate is an emotion which all humans feel.
Fact 2: The emotions we feel have proven successful over our history because - we are still here.
While there is one major religion which teaches that nearly all emotions are bad - Buddhism - the other major religions and philosophies do not argue that hate is wrong in all circumstances, instead, they teach that the target of your hate should be correct - well chosen.
I repeat: every religion and philosophy, Buddhism excepted, teaches that hate is appropriate under a number of circumstances.
The modern left's blanket condemnation of hate is unjustified by any philosophical argument. Why not hate what is evil? Why not hate injustice? Why not hate murderers, slavers, wreckers? I can think of no principled reason not to hate, short of Buddhism's belief that the physical world has no value.
Further, a few minutes in the company of a modern Leftist tells me that they feel hate very strongly. They hate Trump, they hate members of the Republican party, they hate evangelical Christians, they hate... well they hate a lot of people and a great many beliefs.
When I read about modern left members attending demonstrations and shouting "We are against hate!" - I'm certain they are lying to themselves.
So, why do they do it? Why is the left so eager to lie? It's not like they are fooling anyone else. Everyone on the other side who sees the Dem-Fasc party members shouting Love Trumps Hate thinks something like the following:
It's clear the Democrats hate Trump. They certainly don't love Trump, and they aren't indifferent to him so, hate must be the reason why they are out on the streets.
I believe the reason why the Democrat-Fascists say nonsense about hate has no place in their home is the Democrat-Fascists lack any justification for action. Tolerance is not a philosophy, it is instead a self-negating idea which cannot survive a conflict with the intolerant true believers.
What does the left believe in any longer? Is violence appropriate to defend property? Is war ever justified? If a religion teaches slavery, such as Islam, does that mean that some religions are better than others? Is racism wrong when it is grounded in ancient cultural beliefs? Are some cultures better than others? To all these questions the modern left has no answers, or rather it has answers and they contradict each other.
The only statements which seem to be generally accepted on the left are ones that sound plausible - but only when you don't think too hard - like "This city is against hate."
Question: if you are against hate, does that mean you hate hate? Or is there a nice way to be against hate? Can a modern left-wing supporter be against hate but not hate hate? If you are against hate, are you indifferent to the hateful people? Or do you love the hateful and do you seek to persuade them by your loving kindness and your gentle words of acceptance?
Hate is a powerful, dangerous emotion - but if you care about the world, then you should hate the people who are trying to destroy it. If you care a great deal about some people, then history strongly suggests that you should hate the people who are trying to kill the ones you love. Indifference is rarely a motivation to do something.
Hate - use it wisely, but don’t dismiss it.